Don't Let Me Fall
by SaraLovesYou
Summary: Samantha Barton, Hawkeye's sister, was madly in love with Loki, who just so happened to be facing his punishment in Asgard for trying to take over the world. Despite how crazy her life was, and still is, she is slowly getting back to normal with the help of her new found family. But when Loki suddenly shows up again, her life is plunged back into chaos. *Sequel to Complicated*
1. Girl's Night Out

**A/N: Sooo, I was going to take a break from writing, but I couldn't resist. Here's the first chapter of the sequel to Complicated! If you haven't read the first book, I suggest you do that before reading this. If you are coming over from Complicated, I thank you all for sticking with this series, it means a lot to me! Soooo, here's the first chapter!**

**!#$%^**

"Samantha." A voice spoke, trying to drag me out of my sleep. I turned away from the sound, pulling the covers up and over my head. Couldn't people just leave me to my sleep? Seriously…

"Sammie Darling, I think you've slept enough," They spoke again, and I groaned, shifting my body so that I was curled into a ball.

"Alright then…" They said, and I heard footsteps fading away. Thank God… I snuggled into my covers, falling back asleep in minutes. I was having a very odd dream about rainbows and frogs, when something very cold and very wet hit my face, and I bolted upright.

I let out a frustrated scream, opening my eyes to find the person responsible. I fumed at the sight of the man who had done this, and shook my head.

Tony Stark.

Of course that's who it was. Who else would actually pour water on my head while I was trying to sleep? I wiped the water out of my blue eyes, and wrung my hair in my hands. I was soaking wet, all because of freaking _Tony_.

"What the hell, Tony?" I yelled, getting up out of the wet bed. I brushed past him and headed for the kitchen, with Stark right on my heels.

Yes, I lived in Tony Stark's Tower, as well as the rest of the Avengers. Director Fury thought that it would be best if all of the Avengers were together, just in case of any emergencies. At first I didn't mind, but in times like these, I wished that I had a house all to myself.

"It's three o'clock, Samantha. I mean, I know you need your beauty rest and all, but that's just a little late, sunshine," He said.

I muttered several curses under my breath, before searching through his cabinets for something to eat.

"Are there any poptarts in this establishment?" I mumbled, and startled when someone other than Tony answered.

"In the second cabinet to the left, Miss Barton," A male voice said, leading me to a gorgeous pack of strawberry poptarts.

"Thank you JARVIS," I spoke to the automated voice of Tony's AI, before digging in. Tony sat down next to me, and tried to pry away the case of sweets in my hand. My hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, twisting it just enough for him to wince. I let go, and then continued to eat the treat.

I guess my training could come in handy; who knew that all those training sessions with my brother and Natasha could protect my lovely sweet strawberry poptarts?

Tony sighed, and shook his head. Just then, Steve walked into the room, heading to where we sat. He raised his eyebrows at my wet hair, but I shot a pointed glare in Tony's direction, and Steve understood. Tony looked over at Steve, and then back to me.

"Hey Cap'? Mind helping a man out?" He asked, pointing a finger at me. I raised my eyes from my poptarts, and watched as Steve walked over to me. I shot out of my chair, holding the box of poptarts behind me.

"No. They're mine, and you can't take them!" I said, backing away from him. I was about to sprint away, when I felt a pair of hands rip the poptarts out from my hands.

I whipped around, only to come face to face with my brother, Clint. He held up the box and gave me a questioning stare.

"What? It's strawberry!" I said, before walking over to a nearby couch, sinking into the cushions. Tony, Steve, and my brother all followed me, Tony sitting beside me, and Clint and Steve standing across from me.

"Sammie," Clint started, using his old nickname for me. I sighed, and held my head in my hands. Why does my life suck so much?

"You can't keep going on like this," He said, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Like what? I'm not doing anything wrong, am I?" I asked. Steve shook his head.

"Samantha, you're not doing _anything_." He said, and crossed his arms. I sighed, and shook my head.

"I spar with Clint and Natasha every day, and I watch marathons of _Law and Order_. I do plenty of stuff…" I tried to defend myself, but realized that my argument was very weak. I don't really do anything, do I?

Tony scoffed.

"Sunshine, you sit around all day. Maybe you do spar with Legolas and Natasha, but _you do nothing else_," He said, and I bristled at his tone. I stood up, and seized the box of poptarts from Clint's hands, heading for my room.

"I'm a grown adult, I can do what I want to!" I said, childishly. Part of me knew that they were right, and that I was being a child acting the way that I was, but the other part of me said that I could do what I wanted to, and nobody could stop me.

I started walking to my room, and slammed the door as hard as I could once I was inside. I turned around and stuffed a poptart into my mouth, but screamed at the top of my lungs when I noticed that there was someone else in my room.

"Damn it, Natasha! Don't sneak up on me like that!" I gasped, holding my chest and shaking my head at the red head, who was sitting on the edge of my bed. She stood, and gently removed the poptarts from my hands. I didn't resist, knowing that any effort to get it back would be in vain.

"Sam…" She started, and I held up a hand, cutting her off.

"I sleep all day and hog the poptarts, yes I _know_," I said, sighing. Natasha's face was emotionless, like usual, but I swear she looked like she wanted to roll her eyes. She shook her head, and frowned.

"I'm taking you out today. Shopping, then hitting the bar for a few drinks," She said, and my eyes widened. "Here," She said, handing me something that resembled a nice top.

"You need to shower and change."

I looked down at what I was wearing; a black zip up hoodie and grey sweatpants.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I whined, and Natasha didn't grace that with an answer, simply raising a single eyebrow.

"Fine…" I grumbled, and snatched the shirt from her outstretched hand, heading into the bathroom that was attached to my room.

I showered quickly, and then threw on the grey tank top and black skinny jeans, putting my long hair up into a sloppy bun. I emerged from my room, heading out into the large living room that everyone shared.

Natasha looked up from her spot on the couch, and I saw that she was actually in regular clothes, instead of her usual uniform. Natasha and Clint had already gone back to work for Fury, but not as often as they did before, leaving plenty of time for them to hang around with the rest of us, who still lived in the Tower.

She stood, and made her way to my side. I wondered where everyone else was, wondering if I could make an excuse to be able to stay at home. I didn't want to go out. There were _people_ outside, and I didn't do too well in crowds ever since… well, since the battle of New York.

Nat grabbed my arm and started to drag me to the elevator, and we rode down in complete silence. When we hit the bottom floor, I trudged into the lobby with a grimace.

"Why are you doing this? You _hate_ shopping!" I groaned.

"Yeah, but you need to get out of the house. Do something other than sleep and eat your poptarts." She said, and I rolled my eyes.

"But they're _strawberry_!" I tried to explain why I loved them so much. There was just something about those poptarts that made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Not really, but they tasted pretty good.

Nat led me to as store that was only a few blocks away from the Tower, and I scrutinized it with a frown. She sighed, and pulled on my arm, taking me inside. The store was huge, but what else could you expect from New York? I stood awkwardly by a rack, not really looking at anything.

I used to like shopping.

I would sneak out of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base that I used to live on, and go to a million stores, trying on nearly everything in the shop, and buying everything that I could with my allowance.

But now, I couldn't get into it. I mean, the clothes were cute, and some of it was my style, but I just didn't want to. I couldn't explain it, but I didn't get the same feeling that I used to whenever I shopped.

"Sam…" I heard Nat sigh, and turned around to find her staring at me with a disapproving stare. I held up my hands in a sign of surrender.

"Alright!" I turned back to the rack, flipping through the shirts and looking for something to grab. At this point I didn't care what it was, I was just looking for something to make sure that Nat didn't murder me for not picking something out.

I whipped around with my pick, holding it up with a forced smile.

Natasha glanced down at the shirt I was holding, and grimaced.

"I'm not really into fashion, but that's pretty bad." She said, and took the shirt from my grasp. I sighed, and pulled at a strand of brown hair. Natasha looked through a couple of racks, before taking something off and nodding approvingly. She came back to my side, thrust the shirt into my hands, and forced me into a dressing room.

"Nat-" I began, but she cut me off.

"Try it on." She ordered, and I groaned, before closing the curtain and taking off my grey tank top. I pulled on the shirt, and turned to the mirror to see my reflection.

Wow.

Natasha may claim to not like it, but she sure had an eye for fashion.

The shirt was a deep blood red, and fit in a way that made me seem like a beauty queen. I smiled, and twirled around a bit, testing it out. I laughed, and shook my head. Oh, Natasha. My mood seemed to brighten, and I walked out of the dressing room.

Nat took one look at me, and nodded.

"You're getting that," She said, and for once I didn't feel like arguing.

For the next couple of hours we went around to different shops, both of us trying on different tops and bottoms, altogether having a good time.

I didn't know how she did it, but she had turned my mood upside down in a matter of hours. She made me want to go out in public, to do stuff, and not sit around all day. After a while, our feet started to hurt from all of the walking, so we decided to hit the bar closest to us.

We walked in and sat down on the stools, putting our bags down beside us. I sighed, and put my head down on the cool bar.

"Thank you, Natasha," I said.

She smiled, and shrugged.

"It was nothing."

I waved the burly bartender over, and was about to order something when Natasha cut in and ordered for me.

"Two shots of Tequila." She said. I looked over at her with a strange grin on my face.

"Are you trying to get me drunk, Nat?" I asked, and she laughed. _Laughed_.

"You look like you need it." She said, and I couldn't help but agree, as it had been far too long since I had been drunk. With me living at S.H.I.E.L.D. for so long, I hadn't really had a chance to get hammered very often.

And an hour later, I had my wish.

"Natasshhaa!" I shouted, trying to get her attention. I had to make sure that she heard me, because the lady two seats to my right was talking _really_ loudly. Or was it three seats? I leaned back, trying to count. One, Two, _Three_. _Three_ seats to my right. Oh well.

Nat looked over at me, lowering the beer glass from her lips with a small smirk.

"What?"

"I hate love," I said, and she just raised an eyebrow at me. I swallowed, and held up my hands, trying to explain it.

"I mean, like, it _sucks_. Like, you go through life all alone, with like, _nobody_. Then you find somebody who you love, like a lot, and who loves you, like, a _lot_. Then they go and try to take over the whole entire world, and destroy half of New York while they're at it. Then they have to go and leave, off to Assgarden, and leave me here. Love _sucks_." I said, nodding feverishly.

"So this whole depression thing is about Loki?" She asked.

"_No_!" I said as loud as I could, because if I said it loud, maybe she would believe me. But she just stared at me with that _face_, and I pouted slightly. How did she see through that? I was a good liar! Wasn't I?

"Yes…" I admitted, glaring down at my glass.

"It's hard to be without him. I mean, I start to think that I'll be alright, but then something happens and I realize that maybe Loki would have said _this_, or made _that_ face, and I can't deal with it. So I go to sleep, and eat strawberry poptarts, thinking that maybe that _feeling_ will go away," I said.

I looked over at Nat, who was staring at me with an expression that I couldn't read.

"You know what I mean?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I do," She said, and I was shocked by her answer.

Natasha knew how I felt. This was awesome! But _wait_! That meant that she was in _love_… and that meant that she was in love with a _person_… and that meant that she was in love with _Clint_! Oh my God! This was like, so awesome! But like, why was she in my position? Why didn't she do anything about it?

"But like, you _have_ Clint here with you! Why don't-cha make a move?" I hiccupped. Natasha looked down at her glass for a few moments, before looking back up at me.

"It's complicated, Samantha. We're both Agents, and we could compromise missions if we were romantically involved. I do love him, even though I tried to fight it for a suck a long time, but we just _can't_ be together. We _can't_." She said, but I knew that she was trying to convince herself.

"Bullshit, Nattie. If you have love right in front of you, you'd be _stupid_ not to take it. I know that Clint loves you, and would treat you like a queen. If you have something like that, nothing else matters. Believe me, if I was in your position, I'd like, kiss Clint senseless the second I saw him. But like, _ewww_. He's my brother! I take that back… But you like, know what I mean, right?" I asked.

Natasha nodded, before smiling.

"You know what? I think you're right. You're drunk and rambling and hardly making any sense, but you're right." She said, and I let out a loud whoop.

I think the lady four seats away from me wants to shoot me, but I don't care.

"This is a cause for celebration!" I screamed, and waved my hand frantically.

"Oh, _bartender_!" I shouted, and cringed under his glare. Well, _he_ was mean! I mean, like I only wanted another drink! Jeez… _people_ these days.

"Oh no you don't," Nat said, prying my hands off of the shot glass in front of me, taking it in her own hands and downing it.

"Come on, you're done for the night." She said, and slid off of the stool. Ha! I could do that too! I slid off of the stool, but right when my feet hit the ground, my knees buckled, and I flew towards the ground.

I would have hit the floor, but Nat used her ninja super speed to catch me. I giggled, and tried to stand up. It took a bit of work, but I finally managed to stand upright. The world seemed to spin around me, and I giggled again at the funny feeling.

Natasha slung one of my arms over her shoulder, holding me up. With the other hand she grabbed all five of our bags, and started walking out the door and towards the Tower.

I tripped six times on the way there, but by the time we got to the elevator, I could stand up by myself.

The elevator door opened up, and I took a step forward, falling flat on my face. I couldn't feel any pain, but giggled like a madwoman. I was clumsy today!

"Nat? _Sammie_?" A man's voice asked, and I looked up from the ground to see my brother and Tony standing a few feet away, staring at me with strange looks on their faces. I burst out laughing again at their funny faces, and then rested my forehead on the floor.

"Nat?" I looked up to see Clint staring at Natasha, who had a strange look on her face. She seemed to be contemplating something, and after a few seconds, she marched forward.

She grabbed Clint's shirt collar, and pulled him down to her, kissing him.

She actually listened to me!

"Go Nat!" I shouted, and weakly held up a hand, before my head fell back to the floor, and my vision went dark.

**! #$%^**

When I opened my blue eyes, Tony was carrying me in his arms, my head resting against his chest. He kicked open my door, and set me down gently on my bed, which had thankfully dried since this morning. He took off my shoes, and pulled the covers up to my neck. I snuggled into the covers, hugging my pillow tightly.

Tony started to walk out of the room, and I smiled softly into the sheets.

"Love you, Tony…" I whispered, before closing my eyes.

"Love you too, kiddo."

Sighing in content, I drifted off to sleep.

**! #$%^**

**A/N: Soooo, that was the first chapter of Don't Let Me Fall, and I hope you guys liked it! I tried to get it out as quickly as I could. Let me know, my little reviewers!**


	2. Open For Business

**A/N: So I want to thank everyone who followed this story, also to those who reviewed, it still means a lot to me! Anyways, I am sad to say that there will be no Loki for a little bit, as he comes into the story a couple of chapters in. Thanks again, and here's the next chapter of Don't Let Me Fall :D**

**! #$%^**

"Rise and shine, Sammie!" Someone shouted, and my eyes flew open. Instantly I groaned, and held my pounding head in my hands. Jesus, did I get hit by a _truck_? I looked up to see Clint heading for the blinds, and practically had a heart attack.

"No!" I shouted, but it was too late. Clint ripped open the blinds, and sunlight streamed in through the floor length window.

"_Agh_!" I cried out in pain as the bright light immediately made my head feel like it was splitting open. I hid under the covers, waiting for the horrible headache to go away, but it only felt worse.

"Come on, Sammie. Time to get up!" Clint said, and pulled the covers off of me. I groaned once again, and slowly sat up. The second I sat upright, I felt like I was going to fall back down onto the bed. The world seemed to spin around me, and my head felt like it weighed ten tons.

"Damn it…" I muttered, before standing up. The feeling didn't go away, but I managed to keep upright. I was an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.; I wasn't going to be taken down from a hangover! I looked over at Clint, who had a stupid grin on his face. I made a face at him, before realizing what made him so happy.

"_Oh_!" I smiled at him, and he flushed, coughing nervously.

"I assume that you had something to do with Nat's, um, _behavior_ last night?" He asked, and I grinned.

"Yup," I said, proud of myself. Then I frowned. "At least I think. Everything that happened last night is kind of fuzzy…" I murmured.

I remembered shopping with Nat perfectly, and then I know that we hit the bar. Nat ordered something strong for me, and the rest was a sort of blur. I remember a little bit of spilling my guts about Loki to her, and telling her to go get it on with my brother. I flushed, remembering how I made a complete idiot out of myself.

"Yeah, I imagine so. You were very… _intoxicated_ last night," Clint said, and I hung my head. Here it comes, the big brother lecture.

"Yeah, I know. Drinking that much is irresponsible and such, I should be more careful, what with being an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and all… I get it." I said.

Clint laughed, and shook his head.

"No, it was actually nice to see you that happy, even if you were just a little bit loopy. How much did you have to drink?" He asked, and I shrugged, honestly not knowing.

"Nat kept ordering drinks for me. I didn't count," I said, and followed him as he walked out of my room, trying to keep on my feet. Clint just chuckled, and headed out into the living room. I trudged along behind him, my two feet working slower than I'd have liked.

The rest of the team was already out in the living room, and this time with Bruce there too. He had always been in his labs, working on something or another. But this time he just smiled when he saw me, and I waved back at him.

"Hey guys," I said, and everyone simultaneously smirked at me.

"Never took you for a drinker, Princess," Tony shook his head. "Must be taking after me," He stretched lazily out on the sofa. I rolled my eyes at him, and sunk into one of the loveseats next to Steve. He raised an eyebrow at me, and his lips turned up into a smirk.

"So I take it everyone heard about last night?" I asked, and they all nodded.

"The way I see it, it's great as long as you're doing something other than-"

"Sleeping and eating poptarts. Yes, I know," I said, cutting off Bruce as he spoke. I sent him a small smile, and he returned it.

"Actually, speaking of that, we've thought up a plan to make sure that you don't fall back into that… _phase_," Steve said, and I raised an eyebrow.

"What if I _like_ sleeping all day and doing nothing?" I asked, mainly doing so just to say something. I didn't particularly _like_ sleeping all day, but I couldn't let them know that.

"Sure, because sitting around is _so_ much fun. Believe me, this idea is better; it was mine." Tony smirked. I rolled my eyes, but was more than eager to hear the idea they came up with. Maybe now I would have something that would get me out of this depressing state.

Even though I loved strawberry poptarts.

"We're going to make you go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Since Clint and Natasha are already back there doing missions, we figured you could go on a couple of assignments with them. The rest of us will come along too," Steve said, and I brightened instantly.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, back to dearoldS.H.I.E.L.D_._ Cause don't we all love Fury and Hill and all the rest of those _charming_ people?" Tony said, the sarcasm dripping off of his words. But as much as he might complain, it _was_ his idea, and I knew that he was looking forward to doing something other than drinking all day.

"That's… that's great!" I said, grinning like an idiot.

This would definitely be something that I could work with, something that would get my mind off of the… _things_ that made me depressed. Oh, hell, why lie to myself? It would be a great way to get my mind off of Loki.

_Loki, Loki, Loki_. There, I said it.

I sighed, and turned my attention back to the room I was in.

"So I take that as a _yes_," Bruce smiled, and crossed his arms.

"See? I told you it was a brilliant idea." Tony said, smirking his trademark smirk. Clint shook his head, but turned to leave the room.

"I'll let Fury know that we're open for business," He grinned. I nodded, and took a deep breath.

_Here we go again_.

**! #$%^**

The next morning I groaned at the sound of my alarm clock blaring its annoying little chirping noise, and smacked it, sending it flying off of my nightstand.

Oh. At least it shut up.

I sat up and stretched out my arms, glad that my hangover was gone. I had taken two Aspirin the day before, but they seemed to do nothing at all. Well, it was gone now, and I guess that that was all that mattered. I glanced at the time on the alarm clock on the floor, and sighed when it read 4:30.

I was training with Natasha and Clint again today, since we were going to take a trip to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base tomorrow, to get a new assignment. I quickly got dressed and headed towards the gym two floors down. I took the stairs, knowing that it was best to get warmed up before our sparring lesson.

I walked into the gym, where Clint and Natasha stood close by each other. Their arms brushed together lightly, and I involuntarily smiled at the sight. When they noticed me standing by the doorway, they subtly moved apart, and motioned me over.

"You ready to get your ass kicked, Sammie?" Clint asked, grinning his stupid grin. I smacked his shoulder, frowning.

"Ass is a bad word, Birdy," I said, using an old nickname for him. Clint smirked.

"You're one to talk; you have a vocabulary that would make any mother cringe," He countered. I thought about it for a second, and then nodded in agreement. He was right; I did know some _very_ naughty words. But, knowing them and using them are two different things, so I'm sure I was in the clear.

"Alright, just let me stretch, and we'll get this thing started," I said, moving over to stretch out my limbs.

Clint threw a look over at Natasha, who nodded ever so slightly. I froze, and knew what was going to come next. Suddenly, Natasha disappeared from sight, and I used my knowledge of her attacks to quickly duck, dodging a kick to my head.

"Oh, come _on_! I don't even get to stretch?" I whined, coming back up into a defensive stance. Neither Clint or Natasha made any acknowledgment that I had spoken, just eyed me and my stance.

Clint's arm shot out, and I barely had time to deflect it with my hands.

"_And_ you're ganging up on me?" I sighed. Before this they had only ever spared with me one on one style, and now they were _both_ going at me. Great.

Well, two could play at that game.

I parried another blow from Clint, and quickly saw a flaw in his technique. I jumped on it, grabbing his arm and using his momentum against him, sending him stumbling past me. I swung around and jumped up on his back, wrapping my legs around him.

Nat decided to jump in right then, pulling slightly on one of my legs. I lost my grip on him and tumbled to the ground, but rolled on the floor and hopped back up. I grinned wildly, and quickly took on an offensive stance.

I kicked out with my leg, hitting Natasha on her stomach and sending her back. Clint threw a kick of his own from my left side, one that I couldn't hope to block. I was sent stumbling sideways, trying to keep my balance.

How was _this_ fair?

By the time I had regained my balance, Nat was there on my right, punching out and hitting me in my side. I grimaced, but quickly parried another blow from Clint. Suddenly, a foot was knocked out from under me, and I went down on one knee.

Clint and Nat circled me, giving me an opportunity to get back up, one that I didn't take. I would need a strategy if I wanted any chance of beating them, and I knew exactly what to do.

Purposely messing up, I left a window open for Clint as I stood, and his fist struck my cheek. Damn it, it _hurt_, but I recovered and turned to face Clint, whose arm was still held out, a horrified expression on his face.

He had obviously not expected to hit me, and was immediately guilty. Of course, because of this he left ten million windows open for me, and I took it. I slid underneath him, grabbing a leg and pulling, sending him down harshly on his side. He grunted, and I jabbed my elbow into his side.

Confident that he was down, I turned around, narrowly avoiding a punch to the face from Natasha. I changed my stance to a defensive one, and blocked every single punch she threw at me. Frowning, I knew that I had to take her down fast, or Clint would be up and I'd have to deal with him again.

I lashed out with all of my rage and speed, hitting and kicking and spinning and doing whatever the hell it took to take her down. I managed to get a kick in the her side, and that's when she went down on her knees.

I stopped as I was about to hit her, smiling at my accomplishment. But Natasha only grinned, and nodded behind me.

I whipped around and came face to face with Steve, who gently knocking a foot out behind me, sending me to the ground. I was so shocked that I didn't have time to react, so I slammed into the ground, harshly hitting my head on the floor.

I stayed down and groaned.

"I almost had you!" I said, smacking the ground with my palm. Steve held out a hand, and I took it, sighing.

"Always pay attention to your surroundings. Steve snuck up on you while you were lashing out at me, and you didn't notice until it was too late. You would've been killed before you even knew what was happening," Nat said, a smile still in place.

She walked over to my brother, who had a frown on and was rubbing his side. I sent an apologetic look over at him, and rolled my tense shoulders. Steve glanced down at me.

"Sorry," He spoke, a little sheepishly. I lightly punched his shoulder, and beamed.

"It's alright, Cap'," I said, and headed for the door. He followed closely by my side. "You got me good, though…" I laughed, and he frowned.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." He apologized.

"Nah, you didn't really hurt me. I was just surprised, that's all," I made sure he understood that I wasn't hurt. Well, besides my jaw, but that was my own doing. I rubbed at the sore skin on my cheek, and knew that there was going to be a bruise there later.

"Alright, Cap'. Thanks for the lesson!" I said, skipping off towards the kitchen. I searched through the cabinets, searching for my strawberry poptarts. I muttered curses under my breath, not able to find the sweets.

"Looking for these?" Somebody asked. I turned around to see Clint holding up the box of poptarts. I grinned, and nodded.

"You can never have too many poptarts. Especially strawberry," I added, and Clint rolled his eyes at me, before sliding them across the counter. I grabbed the box, pulling out two of the treats, stuffing them in my mouth.

"So…" Clint started, and I groaned. Here we go. I didn't know what he wanted to say, but judging by the tone of his voice I knew that I wouldn't like it. "Steve seems like a pretty nice guy, now that I know him a little better. He's very-"

"Whoa! Wait a second!" I quickly held up a hand, silencing him. I cocked an eyebrow, and finished chewing.

"Are you trying to set me up with Captain America?" I asked, not believing that he was going there. I mean, _seriously_?

"I saw you two talking, and he's not too much older than you. I'm just saying, it would be nice to see you with someone like that." He finished, and I stared at him.

"Clint, Steve is just a friend, and he'll always be like that to me," I said, abandoning my poptarts and heading towards my room.

"And I don't need my brother to play matchmaker. Besides, my heart is already taken, thank you very much!" I huffed, storming off to my room.

Who did my brother think that he _was_? I didn't need any romance in my life right now; I was still trying to get over Loki. And failing, I should add. Besides, _Steve_? I mean, he was good looking and all, but he was _Steve_. And he took his job _way_ too seriously.

I sighed, and shut the door to my bedroom, lying down on my bed.

Tomorrow was a big day; I was going back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Apparently Clint had contacted Fury, and said that the team was ready to come back. Fury had said that he had the perfect job for us, and that a helicopter would meet us at 5:30 tomorrow to take us to the base.

So I supposed that I would be back in action tomorrow, whether I liked it or not. And I liked it, I _did_, but part of me wanted to stay in bed and sleep 'till noon. But I knew that it would be best for me to get out of the house, and I knew for a fact that Loki would disapprove of me being this depressed.

_I will always be with you, Samantha._

His words rang in my head, and I sighed.

Maybe it was for the best that Loki had left. He was no good for me anyways, so it was better that we were apart. Maybe I'd get over him, and meet someone else.

Maybe, but for some reason, my heart sank at the idea.

Oh well. I got out of my bed, opened my door, and headed towards the elevator. Maybe I could go bug Tony in the labs. I sighed, and pressed the button to call the elevator down to me.

I stepped inside, and watched as the door slid closed.

**! #$%^**

**A/N: So that was the next chapter of Don't Let Me Fall, I hope you guys liked it. I just want to let you guys know that there will be **_**no**_** romance between Steve and Samantha, I just thought that Clint would want someone like him for Sammie, being the awesome older brother that he is. Anyways, if there **_**is**_** going to be a love triangle, I think it'll be between Loki, Sam, and a new Marvel character. A lot of you guys said no to the love triangle, so I don't know. Maybe I'll have it, maybe I won't. Let me know what you think!**

**-Sara**


	3. Loki's Punishment

**A/N: I told myself that I could take a little break from writing, since I finished a whole book and got the sequel out like **_**that**_**, but I couldn't do it. I just had to keep writing, since this chapter is the first time we see a bit of the plot. It's just the beginning, but it was fun to write. Anyways, here's the third chapter!**

**! #$%^**

I stared at the wall as the elevator rode down to the labs, where Tony and Bruce spent a lot of their time. I had gone down there a couple of times to see Tony, and once to check up on Bruce, and it had always cheered me up. I guess Clint and I didn't really have a fight, at least nothing like the fights we used to have, when I'd tell him I hated him and storm off to my room to cry.

Yeah, I was a little bit of a brat back then.

But ever since Loki took him away from me, and I found out what it was like to fully lose him, I learned to love him even more. That meant that we never really fought anymore, which was something I was grateful for. Our old fights could get pretty ugly.

The elevator doors opened, and I walked into the laboratories, punching in the code that Tony gave me. The doors slide open, and I strode over to where Tony was staring at something intently. I sat down beside him, sighing and placing my head in my hands.

"What's up, Sunshine?" Tony asked, sparing a glance over at me, before looking back to whatever he was doing. I groaned, and smacked my head on the table.

"That bad? Well, get a cat or something." He waved me off, focusing on something in front of him. I popped back up, grinning.

"Can I? Oh my gosh, I know _exactly_ what I would name it!" I squealed, already thinking of the possibilities. Tony snorted, and smiled softly at my reaction.

"Yeah, _no_. I'm not exactly what you would call a cat person…" He muttered, and I frowned.

"But, Tony! There are like ten million floors in this place, you wouldn't even _see _the cat!" I whined. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Well, at least I cheered you up," He smiled over at me, but I just groaned, hitting my head once again on the table. Tony sighed, and swiveled his chair around to face me.

"So, sunshine, why are you here? Let me guess…" He stared at me, studying my expression. "A fight with Legolas?" He finally decided, and I furrowed my brows.

"How do you _do_ that?" I asked. Tony could always guess everything about me. Like, how I was feeling, and _why_ I was feeling that way. He was like… psychic or something. Tony smirked.

"I'm a sexy billionaire who flies around New York in a metal suit. What _can't_ I do?" He asked, turning back to his work. I rolled my eyes, and tugged on his arm.

"But seriously, how can you always tell?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"You just make this… _face_, whenever it's about your brother. When it's about Loki, it's a different face. I don't know how to explain it. I just know." He said.

I nodded.

"Well, at least someone gets me," I said, sighing. Then I cocked my head at him. "Tony?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing down here? It's six in the morning," I pointed out, noticing the fact that he was up pretty early today. Usually he gets up at around nine, but never this early. Tony pointed towards the screen of his computer, the thing that he was focusing on.

"I picked up some strange readings last night," He said, mentioning his flight last night. Tony would go out every night in his suit to make sure everything was as it should be in the city. Since Loki, everything had been normal. Until now, I suppose.

"What is it?" I asked, staring at the chart in front of me. I may be an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and a fantastic fighter, but that didn't mean I was anywhere _near_ as smart as Tony. As much as I hated to admit it, Tony was sheer genius.

"It's a strange energy reading from a few miles north of here. There's a hotspot where my sensors went haywire," He said, pointing out something on the chart. I nodded, just now making sense of the graph in front of me.

"Why didn't you check it out?" I asked. The Tony that I knew would have been down there in seconds, trying to figure out what the heck was wrong.

"I tried, but almost the second I noticed it, it disappeared. That's the weird part." He said, and I nodded.

"Energy like that can't just go poof," I agreed, and Tony smirked.

"'Poof'?" He asked, questioning my word choice. I shrugged, standing up and heading towards the door.

"I like the word poof. In fact, I'm going to demonstrate a good 'poof' for you right now," I said, opening the door. I paused, and looked back over my shoulder.

"Bye Tony. Good luck with your, um, poof-ing energy thing," I said. Tony chuckled.

"Goodbye, sunshine." He said, and I walked out of the room and to the elevator. I called the elevator down to me, and got in, shaking my head.

When it got to the living room area, I walked out, but stopped when I heard low voices.

"…it worried me. And I told Thor about it, that Sam was depressed ever since, well, you know. And then he said that Loki was-"

"What?!" I screeched, storming out of my hiding spot, finding Clint leaning against the kitchen counter, talking to Steve. Clint had been the one to speak, but at this point I didn't really care.

"_Shit_." Clint cursed, running a hand through his brown hair. I marched over to where they stood, my hands finding a place on my hips.

"_What the hell did you just say_?" I hissed, and glared with all of my might. My heart beat erratically in my ears, but I didn't care.

I needed to know if I heard right.

"Um…" Clint mumbled, and I grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him down to my height.

"You talk to _Thor_? _When_?" I spat out.

If Clint had talked to Thor since the attack, he would know what had happened to Loki. _He would know what happened to him!_

"A few nights ago…" He reluctantly admitted, and I completely lost it.

I released my hold on his shirt, pulled back my fist, and punched him right across the face.

"You_ bastard_!" I screamed, and launched myself at him. I was about to hit him again when an arm wrapped around my waist and lifted me up. Steve effortlessly held me up off of the ground, and I thrashed around, trying to get loose.

How could Clint do this to me? He _knows_ how I feel about Loki, and yet he kept something like _this_ from me. _Why_? Why would he _do _this to me?

"Cap'." Clint shook his head at Steve, and he reluctantly placed me back on my feet.

Except, the second I tried to stand on my own, my knees buckled, and I crumbled to the floor. I hid my face in my knees, too tired to muster up tears.

"Sammie?" Clint dropped to his knees beside me, and placed a hand on my back. I looked up at him, a weary look on my face.

I was too tired to be mad at him, as well.

"Just _go_… both of you. It's the least you can do," I said, hiding my face once again. I heard one pair of footsteps leave the room, but Clint's hand remained firmly on my back.

"I'm not leaving, Sammie," He said, and I sighed.

"Of course you're not…" I said, wanting to just crawl into bed and sleep until all this pain went away.

"But can you at least tell me what happened to him?" I asked, not really expecting an answer from him. But to my surprise, and immediate dismay, he did.

"Loki's been sentenced to a century in an Asgardian prison, Sammie." He said slowly, waiting for me to burst into tears, and I couldn't help but to wait for me to start crying as well.

But I didn't.

I stared at Clint for a long time, my mind going blank.

So Loki was in prison for a century? That… that meant… it meant that I was never going to see him again. I was still waiting for the news to fully sink in, but it never did. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I knew that it was true, but at the same time I couldn't accept it.

_Wouldn't_.

"You okay?" Clint asked me.

I shook my head.

"Nope," I said, giving him a weary smile. "But I'll make it through." I assured him.

And I would.

I got up and pulled on Clint's arm, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you," I said, and left for my room.

**! #$%^**

The rest of the day passed by relatively quickly, and I spent most of the day in my room. Tony visited me once, and that helped a little bit. I was surprised at my reaction, but I knew that it was going to sink in sooner or later.

The second I tried to sleep, however, I was wide awake. I tried every trick I knew to fall asleep, but nothing worked. I was awake, so I decided to get up and showered, getting ready for the day ahead of me.

I threw on my uniform, which was tucked gently in the back of my drawer, and took my gun out of its place on my nightstand. I slept better at night if I knew that my gun was only an arm's length away. With loving hands, I placed the gun in my leg holster, and nodded as it clicked into place.

Sighing, I walked out of my room and out to the kitchen. I was tempted to get my strawberry poptarts, but I knew that if I was going to go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. then I had to start eating healthy foods.

I hated healthy things.

Exercise, food, and almost anything that health freaks loved, I despised. So instead of something too healthy, I settled on an apple. Apples were healthy, right?

"Hey," I heard someone say, and turned around, swallowing my bite of food. It was Natasha, so I just smiled sheepishly.

We hadn't had a chance to talk since I got wasted a few nights ago, and I didn't know how Nat felt about it. Did she think that I was a complete idiot? I mean, she listened to me about Clint, so she can't be too disappointed in me, right?

"We need to go out more often,"

That was _not_ the response I had been expecting. I just grinned at her, and nodded in agreement. She smiled, tucking a strand of her red hair behind her ear.

"I wanted to thank you," She started, and I raised an eyebrow.

"For the Clint thing?" I asked, and she nodded. She hesitated for a moment, before speaking.

"You were right. I had love right in front of my face, and I was too much of a coward to go out and get it. You had love and then had it taken from you. I didn't want to... well, I didn't want to end up in your position. To have come so close, yet be so far away." She said.

I smiled.

"Yeah. Part of it _is_ my fault, though. I _was_ the one who fell in love with the one person I shouldn't have," I said.

Nat shrugged.

"Well, relationships between Agents are usually frowned upon, but I guess I can see your point," She spoke with a smile.

"I'm sorry, by the way. I heard about last night, how you found out about Loki." She said, and I tensed.

"Yeah, well, I guess I'm glad that I found out. I suppose I needed some closure for the whole thing. Did you hear about how my brother wants me to get with Steve?" I asked, a smirk on my face. Tasha smiled, and smiled.

"That he did," She said. She walked closer to me, sitting down in a chair next to me. "It's not so much about Steve, I suppose, than about you being with someone in the first place,"

I grimaced.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm ready for that," I said. "Not yet, anyways."

Tasha nodded.

"I understand."

And somehow, with those two words, I felt instantly lighter. To have someone I cared about tell me that they understood me, well, it felt awesome. I was about to say something, but stopped when somebody walked into the room.

"Hey Steve," I called out, and he looked up from the ground, holding up a hand.

"Samantha. Natasha," He nodded at both of us, before moving to make a batch of coffee. I smiled at the smell, and then sighed.

I had a long day ahead of me, so I took a deep breath and shook out my body.

Maybe everything would be okay in the end, just maybe.

**! #$%^**

**A/N: Hey there, so that was a pretty short chapter, but I wanted to get something out. Please review, and let me know what you think. I promise that Loki will be back **_**really**_** soon, maybe in the chapter after the next. Let me know what you think about the love triangle, how you would feel about having one. It wouldn't be like in Twilight, or anything, where she falls in love with both of them. Maybe a shared kiss or two, just enough to make Loki jealous, but in reality there would be no competition at all. It'll always be Loki for Sam, I promise :D Review away!**

**P.S.**

**I saw the Avengers for the fifth time in theaters last night, a special showing for Labor Day weekend! Anyone else go see it? Let me know!**


	4. A New Assignment

**A/N: So thanks to everyone who reviewed, and thanks to you guys I know now where I'm going with this story. I'm excited about this chapter, partly because it has a lot of action in it, but mainly because it's the beginning of my plot :D You get to see a new villain that I introduce from the comics, maybe not the main one, but a villain never the less. Let me know what you think!**

**! #$%^**

Pretty soon after Steve came into the kitchen, Bruce followed suit, then Clint. Of course, Tony was the last one up, as he sauntered into the kitchen, his hands outstretched towards the coffee. Huh, that was strange. I mean, he drank coffee, but his most common morning drink was something just a little bit stronger. I wasn't going to complain though. If Tony stopped drinking as much as he did, I would be glad.

"You guys ready?" I asked, smiling. The rest of the team returned the smile, and headed for the elevator. We went to the top floor, where there was a helicopter waiting for us. I shook my head, and hopped into the vehicle beside Tony. I rested my head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close.

"So, are you excited to be back?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"I guess. I mean, it's cool to be back in business, I suppose. But it also brings back a lot of memories, some memories that I would prefer to keep buried," I answered honestly.

I mean, there were so many things that had happened at this base, some of them good, but many of them bad. But it was also the place where I had bonded with Loki, and that was something that I would never forget.

_Loki_…

A pang went through my chest at the thought of him, of his raven hair and light green eyes. He was beautiful, and he was _gone_. He was gone for good, and I'd never see him again.

I sighed, and zoned out for the rest of the trip, thinking about many different things.

We arrived sooner than I thought we would, and I hopped out of the helicopter, grateful to be on solid ground. The base was still on the water, but I knew that sooner or later it would be up in the air. It was still trippy to see it rise out of the water, and even cooler to know that nobody on land could see us.

As a team, we made our way down to our usual meeting place, and I immediately smiled upon seeing the table we used to sit at. I was about to go sit down, when the whole place erupted into applause at seeing us all walk in.

Everyone who was working below started clapping at the sight of us, and I blushed, hiding behind Tony's back. I heard one pair of hands clapping behind us, and turned around to see Fury nodded at us. I smiled.

It was good to be back.

Fury walked to his usual spot in front of the table, where all of his monitors were blinking with brand new information. Everyone sat down, and I skipped over to my usual seat in between Tony and Steve. I was silent, waiting for Fury to speak.

"Good to have you back, team," He started. "Now let's get back to work."

I grinned, more than happy to be back.

"You came back at just the right time, in fact. We have a situation that's getting out of hand in New York, and we need someone to go in and get it under control," Fury said, and I leaned forward in my seat.

"Crime rates nearly disappeared after the Battle of New York, but in the past few weeks they have nearly doubled, thanks to a new crime boss. This boss is in control of nearly eighty percent of the drug trafficking, smuggling, and murder that occurs in New York, and we need someone to take him down. Now, normally I wouldn't send my top men to get rid of him, but we need the best on this mission. Not as exciting as fighting aliens and a God, but still important," He said.

"Wilson Fisk, better known as Kingpin, has an army of men guarding his safe house down in the Bronx, his hometown. We need several of you to go an infiltrate this safe house to take down Kingpin." He finished.

Huh, fighting through an army to get to a crime boss? Sounded like fun.

"Rodgers, Barton," He nodded to Steve and myself. "You'll be the muscle of this operation. To put it in better words, you'll be the ones storming the castle," He said, clarifying.

I was going to be in the main part of this mission? Awesome!

"Hawkeye, Romanoff," He said, motioning to my brother and Natasha. "You'll be gathering as much information on Fisk as you can. Use whatever means necessary to get it done,"

He then turned to Bruce and Tony.

"We need you two to look into some strange readings that Stark pointed out to us, and have you try and figure out what and where it's coming from," He said.

So no Hulk and Tony? Ah well, Bruce was probably happy about that, so I was happy too. And if anyone could figure out the poof-ing energy, it would be Bruce and Tony. I was still just happy to be doing something, something important, as well.

"When do we get started?" I asked. I wanted to get to the action already! Maybe it'd get my mind off of everything that had been happening the last few days.

Fury gave me a look.

"The jet's waiting outside, Miss Barton." He said.

"Oh." I said, smiling sheepishly. Well, I suppose that I would get my wish after all, as we were leaving as soon as Fury was done talking.

"So get going. I want this done as soon as possible," He said, shooing us out of the room. I jumped out of my seat, catching up with Steve, who looked down at me with a raised eyebrow.

"You seem happy," He commented, and I just grinned even wider.

"Yeah, well, I'm just excited to be able to do something important. Getting rid of a crime boss is kind of cool. I feel… I dunno, pretty badass, I guess." I said, trying to explain my feelings on the matter. Steve nodded, and then shrugged.

"I don't know, saving the world from alien invaders was pretty 'badass', Sam," He joked.

I hit his shoulder, smiling.

"Well, I had help. This time it's just you and me against an army," I said.

"An army of armed thugs, as well,"

I pointed to me gun, and to his shield.

"We're armed too!" I said. Steve laughed.

"Well, I haven't seen a better shot than you, besides Clint and Natasha, so I suppose we _are_ pretty well armed," he admitted.

"And with your super strength and magical shield, we're all set!" I grinned.

Steve rolled his eyes.

"My shield's not magical, Sam." He said.

"Yes it is. It's _magical_, Steve,"

"No, it's really not,"

"_Magical_."

"Nope,"

"Don't ruin the mood, Steve,"

"Oh, _sorry_. We'll storm into the castle with your shooting skills and my _magical_ shield," He paused. "Happy?"

"Very." I grinned.

**! #$%^**

We made our way onto the jet and rode all the way back to New York. It didn't take too long, but the whole time I was staring at the wall, waiting until we got there. I was prepared to face an army, and knew I wasn't going to be disappointed.

When we finally got there, the jet hovered over a spot a few blocks away, and it was time to go. Steve grabbed me by the waist, holding on tight as he jumped out of the jet. He landed on his feet with hardly a sound, and gently placed me back on my feet.

I shook myself out, quickly dropping to touch my toes. When I was done, I whipped out my gun, holding it to my side. Steve moved up against the wall, trying to blend into the shadows. I shook my head, and grabbed his arm.

"Steve, they're going to spot you a mile away. Let me scout ahead," I suggested, and I could see Steve think it over in his head. He looked reluctant to admit it, but there was logic in my suggestion. He finally nodded, and I smiled, moving to blend into the shadows.

Steve gave me a thumbs up, and I quickly ran along the edge of the walls, hiding myself in the sudden darkness. It was the middle of the day, yet there seemed to be shadows everywhere. I took advantage of it, and looked around the corner. In the alleyway that led to the safe house, there were about twelve men, all armed and tough looking.

I quickly held a hand to the earpiece I was wearing, relaying the information back to Steve.

"I'll take care of it, but distract them for me, will you?" He asked.

"Sure," I whispered, and put my gun back in its holster, walking out of the shade.

The men immediately noticed me, and held their guns to my face. I held up my hands in a sign of surrender, a small smirk on my lips.

"Anyone know where I can find a bathroom?" I asked.

The men looked at each other, obviously not knowing what to do.

Suddenly, Steve jumped off of the roof behind them, knocking out at least three of the guards without making a sound. The thugs turned, and were about to shoot when I jumped into the fray, grabbing the guards nearest me and trying to subdue them.

They may have been skilled gunmen, but they had no skill at all in hand to hand combat. I tried my best to not kill everyone, but to knock them out instead. Steve and I had everyone down within seconds, and I wiped my hands on my uniform.

"Well, that was easy," I said, smiling. Steve looked at me for a second, before looking towards the door at the end of the alleyway.

"That's where we're going to get in, but I doubt that it's just going to open for us. We don't have the lock combination, and it's too heavy of a door to kick in. How about we- Sam? What are you _doing_?" He asked. I was walking towards the door, a strategy in my head already.

I went up to the door, and knocked.

"Sam! What-"

Steve was cut off as the door opened to reveal a very burly man, with a machine gun in his hands.

"Wha-"

I cut him off by delivering a swift kick to the head, knocking him to the ground. I knelt down beside him, checking him.

"He's out cold," I commented, motioning for Steve to come inside. He did, closing the door behind him, and shaking his head.

"What were you thinking, Sam?" He asked.

I shrugged.

"It worked," I said, and he couldn't deny it. I stood up, grabbing my gun out of my holster.

"Ready?" I asked, and grabbed something that looked like a grenade off of the man's belt.

"Sam…" Steve started, but I had already taken out the clip, and thrown it as far down the hallway as I could. I grabbed Steve's hand, and started to run the opposite way. Not three seconds later, a giant explosion rocked the whole building, and I laughed.

"What did you do that for?" Steve asked.

"All the men in the building will run that way now. I figure if we get as many men out of the way as we can, we don't have to go through them all to get to Kingpin," I reasoned, and he nodded.

"Okay," He said reluctantly, following me as I ran down the hallway. I skidded around the corner, my momentum throwing me off balance.

"Who the hell are you?" A voice asked, and I looked up to see a thug staring at me. I chuckled nervously, and held my gun closer to me.

"A janitor?" I said, knowing how lame it was. Steve came around the corner right then, and the burly man grunted, holding up his gun.

"No?" I asked, and when I got no reply, I shrugged, launching myself at him. I quickly knocked the gun out of his hands, and twisted his wrist to the breaking point. He shifted, and knocked me back. Steve came in right then, punching him straight across the face and knocking him out.

"_Sam_!" Steve shouted, looking to a spot behind me.

I whipped around, and upon seeing a man aiming a gun at me, I brought up my own weapon and fired off two shots straight into his chest.

The man slumped to the ground, blood pouring out of his wounds.

My eyes widened, and I immediately flung away the gun I had used.

Oh my God. I had just killed somebody. I, Samantha Anne Barton, just murdered somebody. I let out a shaky breath, and crumpled to the ground.

"Samantha?" Steve knelt beside me, holding a hand to my back. "Are you alright?"

"No." I shook my head. "Steve, I just _killed_ somebody. A human being, who ha-had a family, a mother and father, and a-a wife, an-and kids. And I just _killed_ them. I took that all away from them!" I cried, beginning to freak out. Steve took my hands in his own, lifting my chin so I would look him in the eyes.

"Listen to me Samantha," He started. "They made their choice, and it's time we made ours. I need you focused on the task at hand… we can't get caught up in this. Are you going to be okay for the rest of the mission, or do we need to contact Fury?" He asked, sounding very much like a father.

He was right.

He was right, and I knew it. Those men had made their choice to get into a life of drugs and crime, and I shouldn't weep over stopping them. I had probably saved a civilian's life by doing it, in fact. I nodded at Steve, and gently picked up my gun from the place I had thrown it.

I swallowed, and took a shaky breath in.

"Okay. I'm good. I'll be okay," I said, and took off down the hallway, not waiting for a reply from Steve. I rounded the corner, surveying the area in front of me. There were five men, all armed.

I slid down by the nearest one, taking a leg with me. The man went down, and I elbowed them harshly in the windpipe. I darted to the next man, blocking a powerful blow to the head. Damn it, he was strong! I grunted, and kicked his knee, grimacing when I heard it snap. He went down crying in pain, but I couldn't waste any time feeling sorry for him.

Steve had already taken out two of the men farthest away from me, and we teamed up to get the last one. I motioned to Steve, and he held his shield steady. Much like I had before in the Battle of New York, I launched myself at the shield, jumping off of it and onto the man's shoulders. I had knees on either side of the man's head, and taking a deep breath, I jerked them to the side, cracking the man's neck.

He fell, and I rolled off of him.

"You okay?" Steve asked, and I thought to myself. Was I okay? I had just killed two men; I had just taken two lives.

"Yeah," I lied. "Come on, we're almost there…" I said, heading off down the hallway once again.

I thought back to the layout that Fury had given us, and turned left, taking down a thug in the process. I then made a right, and stopped dead in my tracks when I came face to face with a small army.

There had to be at least twenty men there, all armed. They hadn't seen me yet, so I backed up, stopping Steve before he could run into their line of sight.

"Twenty one," I whispered, giving him the number of men guarding that hallway. The door to Kingpin _had_ to be just beyond them, so we just had to take them out and we'd be in.

"How do we do this?" I asked.

Steve hesitated, before glancing down at my gun.

I closed my eyes, wishing that there was another way to get in, but I knew that he was right. If I used my gun then I could take down a large number of the thugs before they even knew what had happened. It was the most logical course of action, yet my heart sank at the thought of all of those lives.

Come on, Samantha! You're an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and shouldn't hesitate to take down people in the way of a mission. I sighed, but then nodded, taking out my weapon.

Taking a deep breath, I sprinted out into the open.

Time seemed to slow down for me, and I could see everything in perfect clarity. My mind seemed to shut down, and all of a sudden I couldn't think. The adrenaline had taken over, and I was in motion.

I fired off four quick shots, taking down the four thugs closest to me. Before any of the rest had a chance to turn, five more were down, and I moved to reload. The thugs fired off their guns, but I rolled out of the way, taking down three more as I moved.

Steve stepped in, drawing their fire away from me.

I took advantage of their distraction, and took down another four. A bullet came dangerous close to my head, embedding itself into the wall beside my head. I glared, and darted towards the man who had shot at me, throwing a kick at his stomach.

Steve had already knocked out three other guys, so that left the man I was fighting and one more. I was about to throw a punch at the man's head, but cried out as the other thug lifted me up from behind, tossing me to the ground like I was a toy.

I gasped as the air was knocked out of my lungs, my vision going blurry. I blinked rapidly, trying to get my sight back. Soon enough the stars went away, but I was unable to move, unable to breath.

"Sam?" Steve knelt by my side, helping me into a sitting position. I gasped for air, gulping it into my airless lungs.

"I'm good," I rasped out, getting up to my feet. Steve held a hand to my back, but I waved him away.

"Let's go," I said, and motioned to the door that the thugs had been guarding. I stumbled over to it, before using my momentum to kick it open, holding a gun up to the darkness.

Wait, darkness?

The room was completely dark, and I couldn't see a thing.

"Give it up, Fisk, it's over!" I shouted out, my voice wavering slightly. I cursed myself for being shaky, for not sounding more forceful.

A deep rumbling went through the room, and I recognized it as a laugh. I shuddered, but kept my gun up, pointing it straight ahead.

"Is that so? A little girl with a toy and a man dressed in blue tights? I believe you it is _over_ for _you_, my dear…" A voice spoke from the darkness, but I used my ears to hear where it was coming from. I pointed my gun to the left, swallowing.

"Yeah? Well, this little girl just took out over twenty of your personal guards to get here," I said, trying to defend myself.

"An impressive feat. But do you have the mettle to take on _me_, I wonder? Well, let us find out." He said, and suddenly the lights flickered on. My eyes searched the room in front of me, but I found no one. All of a sudden, Steve grunted from behind me, and I turned to see something that made my eyes widen.

There, in front of me, was a man that seemed to be four feet taller than me, and at least four feet wider than me. Normally I would have said to lose some weight, but I could tell that it was pure muscle, which scared the crap out of me.

Kingpin had launched himself at Steve, and knocked his shield out of his hands. Steve brought his hands up in a punch, but the Caucasian giant in front of me simply batted him aside, sending him flying to the floor.

I should have shot him right then and there, but I hesitated, and that was my mistake.

Kingpin was a lot faster than I thought someone of his size would be, and I gasped out as he knocked the gun out of my hand. He grabbed my uniform's collar, lifting me up into the air like I was nothing. And to him, I probably weighed the equivalent of a small rock.

He threw me up against the wall, and I saw stars for the second time that day. I opened my eyes just in time to see Kingpin throw a kick aimed at my stomach, and prepared myself for the attack.

But nothing I did would ever prepare me for the pain of that kick, and I cried out in agony.

"Samantha!" Steve shouted, and I heard him yell out as he attacked Kingpin. I opened my eyes to see Steve dodging all of Fisk's blows, using his superior agility to duck under and move around the blows.

I tried to get to my feet, but the pain in my stomach was too much, and I fell back to the ground. Deciding on a different tactic, I began crawling over to my gun.

I was almost there, when I felt a hand wrap around my ankle, dragging me back. I started to freak out, and clawed at the ground to try and stop him.

"Let me _go_!" I screamed, but he just grunted as he _lifted me off of the ground_. By my _ankle_. My mouth dropped open at the sheer strength of this man, and I thrashed around, trying to get free. Steve landed a kick to Fisk's side, and he dropped me.

I had enough sense to roll before I hit the ground on my head, but it still hurt like hell. I scrambled over to my gun, and picked it up.

Leveling it to Kingpin's chest, I smiled triumphantly.

"Stop!" I shouted, and Kingpin chuckled. "I'll shoot!" I threatened. Kingpin raised his eyebrows, and stepped towards me. Steve got up off of his feet, and walked towards him, but I waved him off.

"Oh, but _will_ you, Miss Barton?" He asked, and my eyes widened.

"H-how do you know my name?" I demanded. Fisk chuckled, and stepped forward again. "How the _hell_ do you know my name?" I screamed, and my arms shook from my fear and exhaustion.

"I know many things about you, as well as Mister Rodgers," He said, stepping forward once again.

That was it! My jaw clenched, and I shot three rounds into his chest.

Except nothing happened to him.

He kept coming towards me, and I was forced to roll out of the way.

"What the hell?" I said, and Steve's amazement mirrored mine. I looked closely at his chest, and saw the holes in his shirt. There was metal behind it, and I knew that he must have been wearing some sort of armor behind his clothes.

"Damn it!" I muttered in frustration, and got to my feet. I saw Kingpin launch himself at me once again. This time, instead of rolling out of the way, I darted towards him.

"Sam!" Steve shouted, but I ignored him.

At the last second, I slid in between his legs, and stood up behind him. I brought my foot up with all of my might, and watched as the mighty Kingpin crumbled to the ground from a cheap crotch shot.

"Ha!" I said victoriously, bringing my gun up to the back of his head. "It's over Fisk!" I grinned, but winced as my stomach started hurting again. I held my side with one hand, using the other to keep my gun leveled at his head.

"Oh _no_. This is just the beginning, my dear…" He smiled wickedly, and I tried to ignore the strange feeling I got from his words.

Somehow, for some reason, I believed him.

I quickly brought down the butt of my gun to his large head, immediately knocking him unconscious. I then dropped my gun and slumped down to the floor, winded and _beyond_ exhausted.

"Well, that was fun," I muttered, looking over at Steve, who wiped some sweat from his unmasked brow. He made a sound in his throat, and I grinned softly, bringing a hand up to my ear.

"We've got him, Fury,"

With that, I threw myself back onto the floor, my head resting against the cool surface of the tiled floor.

"Go Avengers!" I grumbled, raising a bruised fist to the ceiling.

**! #$%^**

**A/N: Sooo, I introduced Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) into the story, one of the major villains of the Daredevil comics. I always liked him, so I figured I'd bring him into this story. He fit right in, though he will **_**not**_ **be a major villain in this story. I have another one in mind :D Let me know what you thought about all of the action, and the longer chapter. Review away, my loves!**

**P.S.**

**If any of you are artists, I would love to see some pieces done for my story! Just throwing that out there :D**

**-Sara**


	5. Kidnapped

**A/N: Hey guys, so thanks to everyone that reviewed, it means a lot to me! Now, a lot of you have been asking about Loki's return, saying that you miss him. Well, he **_**might**_** or might **_**not**_** be in this chapter, so I guess you'll have to read and find out! Let me know!**

**! #$%^**

Soon after I had contacted Fury, he sent out a whole squadron of Agents to secure Fisk, and I made sure that they sedated him before putting him on the jet. I didn't want him to wake up and cause any more trouble once they were on the jet, because God only knows the mess he could make.

I was currently sitting down in one of the said jets that Fury had sent, staring off into space. A tap on my shoulder brought me back into reality, and I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thoughts I was having.

"Yeah?" I asked Steve, who sat down across from me, frowning.

Oh boy, here comes the 'fatherly talk'. I knew it was coming, and he didn't disappoint.

"Samantha, are you alright?" He asked, his light blue eyes sparkling in concern.

I shrugged, and then winced, rolling my shoulders out.

"I'm going to have a lot of bruises in the morning, but I'll be fine," I said. Steve shook his head at me, giving me a look.

"You know what I meant," He said.

Oh. _That_.

"I'll be fine, Steve, don't worry about me," I said, waving him off. I'd be perfectly fine, and he didn't need to worry about me so much.

I was an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., what did it say about me if I wimped out on a mission because I couldn't handle taking a life? Well, I supposed that made me human.

"Sam, you know what separates us and them?" He asked. I shook my head.

"_You're_ mourning over the lives you took, whereas if they were in the same position we're in, they would be able to sleep perfectly at night," He said.

I took in his words. I guess that made sense. What made me different from them is that, even though they were thugs, I still mourned over each and every single life that I took.

I lifted my eyes to meet Steve's blue orbs, and nodded gratefully.

"Thank you, Steve. It means a lot to me," I said, before turning my attention back to the wall in front of me.

The rest of the trip back to the Helicarrier was spent in silence, and I used the time to think about my future as an Agent. Was I going to be in the Avengers for the rest of my life? Eventually I would get old and retire, I suppose, but I doubted that I would ever be able to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. And why would I want to? I mean, they may be harsh at times, but I suppose that it was my home.

I sighed, and let my head fall backwards, falling asleep within minutes.

**! #$%^**

"Sam," Somebody shook my shoulder. "Samantha." They said, and I opened my eyes to see Steve standing in front of me. The jet had landed, and the hatch was open.

"Come on," Steve said, and held out a hand. I took it, and pulled myself to my feet. Wiping the sleep from my light blue eyes, I followed Steve as he walked back inside of the base. I trudged along beside him, holding my abdomen, which had started to throb.

Kingpin certainly knew how to throw a kick, that's for sure…

"Sammie!" I heard a voice say, and I turned to see Clint running up my side. When he saw my face, his expression darkened.

"What the hell happened to you?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"Four hundred pounds of pure muscle, that's what…" I muttered, and Clint sighed, pulling me in for a hug.

"I was worried about you," He said, and I gently removed myself from his grasp.

"Yeah, well, we both made it out in one piece, and with Kingpin. I figure we did a pretty damn good job, considering how… _large_ our opponent was. I'm telling you, Clint, he was _pure muscle_. Not an inch of fat on him!" I rambled, and Clint shook his head.

"I'm just glad you're okay," He said. I nodded, and gingerly sat down at the table. Right now it was only me, Steve, and Clint, with Fury nowhere to be seen.

Natasha was the next person to walk through the doors about fifteen minutes later, with a small smile on her face. Next came Bruce and Tony up from the labs, and Tony made his way to his usual spot beside me.

Tony took one look at me, though, and frowned.

"So, did you get your ass kicked, or what?" He asked, motioning to my beaten up body. I sighed, and then shrugged.

"Pretty much," I said. "Came out on top in the end, though,"

Tony shook his head, and was about to say something when Fury walked into the room, silencing him.

"We have Wilson Fisk in custody, as well as all of the surviving members of his gang. Good work, you two," Fury said, nodded at us. I smiled, and rested my head on my hand. Fury then turned to Clint and Natasha.

"What information were you able to gather?" He asked, and Nat spoke up first.

"We found out everything that was in Fisk's files; his birthplace, the names of his wife and son, and so on. But there were several things that weren't in the files, like his sudden interest in the Avengers," She said.

I frowned. So is that why Fisk knew so much about us?

"According to several of his men, Fisk had ordered them to gather as much information on us as they could, but we also found out that he already knew a lot of things about us in the first place. He had to have been getting some of the classified information from elsewhere," Clint spoke up. He glanced over at me, then back at Fury.

"We also found out that he wasn't working alone,"

Wait. This sounded familiar.

_This is just the beginning, my dear…_

Kingpin's words played through my head, and I couldn't help but make a connection. Kingpin wasn't working alone, had an interest in the Avengers, and said that this was just the beginning. Maybe he was right; maybe he, or someone else, had something up their sleeves for us.

I shuddered at the thought, and quickly shook my head.

"Sounds like bad news to me. If he's been getting classified information, we're going to need to find out where it's coming from. Good work, Agents," He said, and finally turning to Tony and Bruce.

"Were you two able to find out anything new about the energy readings?" Fury asked. Bruce was the one to speak up, taking off his glasses and setting them down gently on the table.

"Well, the levels of energy that Stark tracked were like nothing I've ever seen before. It's inconsistent to anything I know of, and the fact that it just disappeared leads me to think it comes from a machine. In order for the energy to be shut off like that, there would need to be an off switch for whatever it was that was on the readings. I was, however, able to pinpoint the exact location of where the energy came from-"

"Which doesn't make any sense," Tony cut in. "I looked in that building where there energy was coming from. According to the computers, whatever it was _should_ be right there. And it's not," He said, frowning.

"Shouldn't we check that out? I mean, whatever it is could be dangerous," I spoke up. Tony glanced over at me, before looking back at Fury.

"I already checked. So unless there's a secret door or something, nothing's there," He said. I smirked, and nodded at him.

"You might have given us the answer. Did you look for any secret doors while you were there?" I asked.

Tony shook his head.

"No, but that just means that-"

"We should check it out again!" I chimed in with a small smile, and he sighed. "What? What if there _is_ something there? It could be a weapon, or something equally as dangerous. It's in everyone's best interest for us to check it out, Tony," I said.

"Agent Barton is right. If there's something that powerful in the city, I want to know what it is and get it permanently shut off. Is that clear?" Fury asked.

Tony rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"Yes, Mr. Eye patch, sir…" He mumbled, giving a mock salute. Fury nodded, and then crossed his hands behind his back.

"There is one other matter that needs to be-"

All of a sudden, the Helicarrier started shuddering. I mean, actually _shuddering_ and _groaning_, like there was an earthquake inside of the ship's walls. I leapt to my feet, and glanced around. The rest of the Avengers had done the same, and Natasha's hand was already on her gun.

"Hill!" Fury called out, running to where Maria Hill stood by her computers, frantically trying to figure out what was going on.

"There's nothing wrong with the ship, sir! Everything is running at one hundred percent capacity," She called out, swiping her fingers across her computer. I shook my head, marveling at the déjà vu.

I silently put my hand on my gun, and took it gently out of its holster.

I looked over to where Tony was debating something, probably whether or not he should go get his suit.

"Don't worry, Mr. Stark. I'll protect you," I smirked at him, and his lips turned up into a ghost of a smile, before continuing to look around.

"That's why I'm worried," He joked.

Ah, Tony. Even in times like these, still you joke. And truth be told, I was okay with it, because I was really nervous. I didn't need some other super villain to pop out of nowhere, especially with how beaten up I was. Getting into a fight right now was _not_ on my to-do list.

Then, all of a sudden, the shuddering and groaning stopped, and the ship went silent. I held my gun closer to me, liking the silence even less than the noise. Silence usually meant that something was wrong, deadly wrong.

I slowly started walking away from the group, ready to investigate, but right when I got to the center of the room, I noticed something that made my blood freeze in my veins.

"Guys," I called out, pulling their attention to the green mist that was slowly swirling around, right next to the table.

Frowning, I walked closer, and waved my hand through the rolling mist, half expecting my hand to fall off or something as equally painful.

But instead, the ship went haywire.

All of a sudden the floors were shaking, and the lights flickered on and off. The walls sounded like they were going to cave in, and I felt the ship jolt from the pressure. I gasped, stumbling backwards and flailing my arms about, about to fall onto my bottom.

What I was not expecting, however, was for someone to catch me.

I froze, holding onto the hand that had saved me from a nasty fall, and looked up at my rescuer, straight into emerald green eyes.

I gasped, my eyes widening.

"_Loki_?"

No.

No, this could _not_ be happening to me.

But there he was, his strong arm wrapped around my waist the only thing preventing me from falling. His hair was cut a little bit shorter than I had seen it last time, but other than that, he was the same Loki I had known. The same Loki I had loved.

His green eyes searched through my own, seemingly looking for something. I looked right back up into his green orbs, not believing that he was here. What the hell? I thought that he was in some prison in Asgard for his crimes! What was he doing here? What was he doing on the _Helicarrier_?

What was he doing holding _me_?

"Let her go, Loki!" Someone shouted, and we both looked up to see both my brother and Natasha with their guns out and aimed at Loki's head. I looked back at Loki to see that his lips were turned into a small grin.

Loki twisted his arm, and I let out a small scream as I was forced up out of my dipped position, and up in front of Loki. His arm was still around my waist, and his head was over my right shoulder, using me as a shield.

_Bastard_.

"You let her go Loki or I swear to God I will put a _bullet_ in between your eyes." Clint growled menacingly, and I knew instantly that he wasn't kidding. I gritted my teeth, and spoke up.

"You know, I may work for S.H.I.E.L.D., but that doesn't mean that I particularly like being used as one," I said, and elbowed Loki in the stomach. He grunted, his grip loosening slightly, and I used the opportunity to escape his grasp.

I started to run towards Tony, who had an arm outstretched towards me, but gasped as Loki grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him.

I could see Clint and Natasha both tense, and I knew that they were going to shoot. I was about to do something, maybe duck, or maybe even try and escape again, but stopped when Loki grabbed my shoulders in his hands.

All of a sudden, I felt like the world was spinning around me, and that I was tumbling through space. I screamed, and flailed my arms about, effectively getting away from Loki. Except this time, when I hit the floor and looked up, I didn't see Tony, or Clint, or Steve, or even Natasha.

I was in a completely different place, on the floor of an empty warehouse.

I looked up in awe at Loki, but my awe soon turned into a glare.

"You _asshole_!" I growled, slamming my fist onto the ground.

I had just been kidnapped by Loki Laufeyson.

**! #$%^**

**A/N: Dun dun dunnn! Well, kiddies, Loki is BACK! And one of you wanted Loki to come back with a 'grand entrance', so I tried my best to do just that. So, what do you think will happen now? Loki's back, and he's taken our dear Sammie. What'll happen next? I guess you'll just have to wait until the next chapter, my dears! Anyways, let me know what you think of this chapter, sorry for the shortness, but I just needed to get this over with :D **

**-Sara**


	6. Curses, Kisses, and Plans for a Rescue

**A/N: Oh my Gosh! I am so sorry for updating so late, but there has been so many things going lately! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it gives me more motivation to write when you guys give me a couple of words telling me what you thought about what I'm doing. Anyways, Loki is back and he'd going to be here for good, so here's the next chapter! Oh! If you haven't checked it out already, check out the song My Oh My by Tristan Prettyman, it's pretty cool!**

**! #$%^**

"**My oh my**

**You're getting under my skin**

**Don't know why I'm always letting you in**

**Just when I got my life together again, **

**Here you are standing there **

**Tell me why I should try**

**My oh my"**

**-My Oh My (Tristan Prettyman)**

**! #$%^**

"Samantha?" Loki knelt beside me, whispering my name as though it were a prayer. I lifted my eyes to meet his own green ones, and shifted slightly so that I was in a sitting position, with Loki by my right side.

And for a long time, I just stared blankly at him, not able to believe my eyes.

Then I got angry.

This couldn't be happening to me. This could _not_ be happening to me. I mean, seriously? After all this time, and _now_ he shows up? I gritted my teeth, and glared at him.

"You fucking bastard!" I shouted, trying to get him to realize how frustrated I was. "I mean, _seriously_? You _kidnap_ me? You come onto the _Helicarrier_, and fucking _kidnap_ me?! And how the hell are you even _here_? You're not supposed to be here, you _asshole_! After all this time, after making me go through hell without you, and then when I _almost_ get over you, and then you pick_ now_ to show up! _No_! No, no, no, _no_! It's not fair, you jerk! You fucking _jerk_!" I screamed, and pushed on his chest, sending him flying back onto his ass.

I sighed, and was suddenly on the verge of tears.

"How are you even here? You were supposed to be in prison up in Asgard for a century… What the hell are you _doing _here?" I asked softly, and silently cursed my voice for breaking.

"Would you prefer that I was still sitting in my cell?" Loki asked, his voice sending shivers down my spine. I hadn't realized how much I had missed it, how I had missed his voice; that voice that made me want to do anything for him. Snapping myself out of my thoughts, I bristled slightly.

"No!" I said, but then thought over my words. "I mean, at the same time I didn't particularly want you to break out of prison, show up on the Helicarrier, and fucking _kidnap_ me…" I spoke, rambling slightly. Loki just frowned, and blinked at me. I shook my head

"Why are you here, Loki?" I sighed, just needing a straight answer from him. If he broke out of prison, he had to have a reason to come back to Earth. Loki looked away, crossing his arms behind his back, turning away from me. He was silent, and I used the opportunity to think.

He needed a reason to come back to Earth, and I doubt that he came back for me. He risked an even bigger punishment for escaping, so it had to be something he wanted dearly. I froze, and knew why he had come back.

"You're here for revenge." I said, finally getting it.

Loki stayed silent, never once looking back at me.

I'll take that as a yes.

Suddenly, I found this situation funny, instead of frustrating. I laughed, and shook my head. You know what? This was hilarious! I started laughing harder, and clutched at my stomach, which was aching from my laughter. Loki stared over at me, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"What's so amusing?" He asked, but I was too busy laughing to answer him. I wiped my eyes, and tried to stop chuckling, looking up at Loki with a grin.

I sighed, and got to my feet.

"What's _funny_ is that I've prayed for you to come back ever since you left. After you left for Asgard, I kept dreaming that you would come back, and now you're here. _Now_, of all times, _now_. I've slowly been getting over you, finally being able to get out of the house and have fun with my friends and family. Not to mention that when you finally come back, you're here with yet another plan to take over the world!" I raised my voice, verging on hysterics.

"_That's_ what's funny…" I said, sighing, and trying to calm myself down.

I felt Loki place a hand on my shoulder, and I took it gently in my own, smiling wearily up at him.

"It's not that I'm not happy to see you, because I _am_. At least I think. I don't know, maybe I'm not happy to see you. I don't know… But I _do_ know that you're a bastard for doing this to me, you know that right? A fucking _bastard_." I said, nodding at him.

Loki just stared at me, his eyes searching through my own blue ones, searching for something unknown to me. I looked him over, taking in his appearance, memorizing it. I sighed, and ran a hand through my brown hair.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, not really expecting an answer from him. But he did answer, and I immediately wished that he hadn't.

"Your friends… the _Avengers_," He spat out the word. "They took away my one plan to be King of this world. They _humiliated_ me, took away what was left of my pride. That's not something I can easily forgive. I've come to show them that they cannot just play games with me; I am Loki of Asgard! I am a _god_, and they are mortals who make play they are more. I've come to show them who is the rightful ruler," Loki ranted, and I raised my eyebrows.

Why did I get the crazy one?

"Of all the people I could have chosen, why did I have to choose the one who wants all of my friends dead? The one who thinks that he'll take over the Earth and enslave the human race?" I sighed, and shook my head.

Loki said nothing, and looked down at the ground. I just rolled my eyes.

"So, why do you need me?" I asked.

Loki turned back to me, a small smile on his lips.

"When we take Midgard, I want you to be safe. I-I cannot imagine you getting hurt, and the only way to prevent that is if you are out of harm's way," He said.

I scoffed.

"You know, the last time you tried to take over the world, I nearly died. Just saying…" I said.

Loki grimaced, as if the thought of that caused him physical pain.

"I… remember. And I will never be able to forgive myself for that," He said, staring down at his feet.

"You know, there is a way you can make it up to me," I started. Loki turned to me, an eyebrow raised.

"And how would I be able to fix something like this?" He asked, not believing that he could make it better. I smiled.

"You could make it up to me by, oh, I don't know, I guess you could _not_ try to take over the world," I drawled, shrugging my shoulders in a nonchalant manner.

Loki smiled sadly, and shook his head.

"No. This is something I must do. I _must_ do this," He said, nodding, and looking like he was trying to convince himself.

Damn it. I had to try another approach.

"Well, you know, I could end up dead this time around-"

"_No_," Loki cut in, fiercely. "I will _not_ allow that to happen," He said, moving closer to me.

I sighed, and patted his cheek.

"It's nothing that you can control, Loki dear. I'll never be able to _not_ fight. It's my job to protect the world from those who threaten it, and since you technically threaten it, I'll have to fight you. Eventually." I said.

Loki growled, pushing past me. He held out his hands, turning back to me.

"Then do it! You have a weapon, dispose of me right now!" He said, and I just now realized that I was still wearing my gun.

Oh.

"You may talk, but will you ever act? Will you be able to get rid of me? You say that you'll fight me, so why not take this chance? You could end this war before it even begins!" He said, moving closer to me. He took my hands in his own, and put them to my gun.

"_Do it_," He said.

"I-I, b-but, I-I…" I stuttered, my eyes widening. "I-I…" I went silent, looking down at the ground in defeat.

Loki lifted my chin, and smiled grimly, before walking away.

I huffed, and crossed my arms in frustration.

"Asshole…" I muttered.

I stood there for a long time, thinking to myself. I chuckled softly, and Loki turned back to me, a questioning look on his face.

"It's just… this isn't exactly the way I had imagined this would go," I said, smiling to myself.

"How did you dream it would go?" He asked, genuinely curious. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, first of all, you wouldn't have broken out of prison," I said, chastising him, before continuing. "It's kind of stupid, but I had always wished that you would be forgiven for your crimes, and that you would come back to Earth to proclaim your love for me. You would sweep me off of my feet, and then kiss me until my head spun…"

"It's not too late for that," Loki grinned wildly.

I shook my head.

"It's _way_ too late for that. I don't even know if I feel-"

I was cut off at Loki darted towards me, and picked me up bridal style. He twirled me in a circle, and I couldn't help but to let out a giggle. He set me down on me feet gently, before coming closer. I recognized what he was going to do, and tried to stop him.

"Loki-"

His lips found my own, and suddenly I couldn't think. All I felt were his lips moving in unison with my own, and the bliss that followed. He did what I had wished, and kissed me until I couldn't breathe. I smiled when he pulled away, but it quickly turned into a troubled frown.

I was supposed to be over him, and here he was sweeping me off of my feet!

I wretched myself away from him, and brought a hand up to my lips. I wiped them on the sleeve of my uniform, and looked down at the ground, completely silent. We were quiet for a few seconds, before I tried to change the mood.

"So, what am I supposed to do while you take over the world?" I asked, attempting a small smile.

Loki smirked.

"You are my prisoner. You are not supposed to have any luxuries," He said, and I immediately frowned.

"So I'm just supposed to sit here for however long it takes for you to take over the world?" I shook my head. "I don't like that idea at all."

So I started wandering around the room, which seemed to be the inside of some kind of empty warehouse. I was looking all over; for doors, windows, _something_.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked.

"Looking for a way to escape," I said simply, shrugging my shoulders. He raised his eyebrows at me, and blinked a few times.

"You don't honestly expect to escape while I'm here, do you?" He asked, smirking. I shook my head.

"Yeah, but you're not going to watch me all the time. You're going to have to leave me alone at some point. If worse comes to worst, the Avengers will rescue me," I smiled back at Loki, who tilted his head.

"The Avengers? Those fools will never be able to find this hideout," He sneered. I rolled my eyes for the second time, and shook my head.

"You underestimated the Avengers once before. Do you really want to do it again?" I asked.

Loki just scoffed.

"This time is it they who have underestimated me! I have put too much effort into this, we shall not fail!" He ranted.

I frowned, and held up my hands.

"Wait, you've said that twice now. We? Are you working with someone else?" I asked.

Loki turned away from me, shaking his head.

"I cannot tell you my plans, Samantha…" He said, and I sighed.

Of course he couldn't.

"Well, fine! I'll just sit over here, all by my lonesome self…" I muttered, and found a chair, sinking down into it.

Well, this should be fun.

**! #$%^**

**Third Person**

**! #$%^**

The five members of the Avengers were currently pacing the room, each and every one of them stressed over the sudden appearance of Loki, and the kidnapping of their youngest member. They were sitting in silence, until Maria Hill called out to Fury, who was muttering curses under his breath.

"What is it?" He snapped impatiently.

"We've got an unauthorized landing of an unknown vessel. It's small in size, and incredibly fast," She said, describing yet another intruder.

Suddenly, a figure came running through the room dressed in battle armor and a red billowing cape, hammer in hand.

"My fellow Avengers, Loki has vanished from his cell, and I fear that he may try and attack you whilst you are unprepared!" He bellowed, ignoring all of the guns that were instantly trained on him. He looked around, and noticed how flustered the group was.

"It's a little late for that, Thor," Steve spoke up. "Loki showed up not thirty minutes ago, then disappeared, taking Samantha with him," He said.

Thor frowned, taking in this new information.

"The guards looked in his cell this morning and found him gone. I feared the worst, and it seems as if I was correct…" He said.

Clint tensed at the mention of his sister, and glared silently at the ground beneath him. Natasha noticed this, and walked briskly to his side. She took his hand in her own, and squeezed it gently.

Clint looked up at her, his eyes softening, but then quickly looked away.

"That bastard…" He cursed.

Tony gritted his teeth, and stood from his spot at the table, heading for his suit. He had had enough.

"Where are you going, Stark?" Steve asked, motioning towards Tony. He whipped back around, glaring at the Captain.

"What do you think? I'm going to rescue Samantha, that's what!" He shouted, and turned to head towards his suit once again. Steve took a step towards him.

"Stark, do you have any idea where she is? Any plan?" He asked, and Tony sneered.

"A plan? I don't need one. Loki took Samantha, and I'm going to get her back. That's all that matters!" He said. Clint nodded.

"Tony's right,"

"Steve's right," Natasha cut in, silencing Clint. She glanced over at him, frowning. Clint shook his head, and threw up his hands.

"I'm not going to just sit around while Loki could be hurting my baby sister!" He shouted, his face turning red.

Thor shook his head, and jumped into the conversation.

"My brother may be misguided, but he could never hurt her. I've seen the way that he looks at her, and I know that he would never willingly harm her. Part of him died seeing Samantha nearly killed, and I know that he vowed to protect her from that day on. Young Barton may be safer with my brother than with us," He said.

"That's not-" Clint's angry protests were cut off as Fury stepped into the middle of the group, cutting them off.

"Are you six done?" He drawled, waiting for them to quiet down. Clint was still fuming, but knew better than to go against the Director. He grew silent, glaring at the one eyed man in front of him. Fury shook his head, and motioned to the computers behind him.

"While you kids were bickering, we've located some people who may be able to help find Agent Barton and Loki," He began, and everyone immediately froze, waiting for him to continue. Fury smirked, and pulled four profiles up on the computers behind him.

"Team, I' d like you to meet the individuals known as the Fantastic Four."

**! #$%^**

**A/N: Heeey guys! Please don't kill me for updating so late, but I've had no inspiration for this story as of late! But a lot of things happened in this chapter, such as me introducing the Fantastic Four into the group. I usually don't read a lot of Fantastic Four comics, but I thought that I'd bring them in for this story and see where it goes. Let me know what you think about it, and whether I did a good job or not. I was kind of hesitant to see your reactions to me bringing them in, so let me know, mm'kay? I love you guys!**

**P.S.**

**So, my new story is going to be a Tony/OC story, since it won on the poll. I have no idea what to do for a new story, but it's going to happen eventually :D**


	7. Author's Note

**A/N: Hey guys, so so sorry that this isn't an update, but I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm having a little bit of trouble with the story, but should have it up relatively soon :D School and music have taken over my life, and I have no motivation for writing D: Most of you guys seemed to love the fact that I brought the Fantastic Four in, but a couple of you didn't, which is perfectly fine, cause I thought that you guys were all going to hate me for it :) So, in the meantime, while I force my lazy butt to write, why don't you leave me a review telling me why you're excited/horrified that I brought the Fantastic Four in. Or you don't have to, that's cool to. I just figured it'd be something to do xD Or you can predict what's going to come next, or tell me what your favorite part of the story so far was, or hell, even tell me what you did today. I just need to know that people are still reading!**

**But speaking seriously, I should have the next chapter out soon. So sorry for the wait, my dears!**

**With Love and Rainbows,**

**Sara 3**


	8. Of Rescues and Vanishing Gods

**A/N: Oh my gosh! It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm really sorry for the long delay, but life caught up to me and decided to see how much fun it would be to make my life a living hell. Again, I'm so so sorry, but I should be able to update regularly now :) Well, most of you guys were pretty happy about the Fantastic Four being introduced, and a couple of you were not. That's okay by me, because I honestly thought you guys were going to hate me and stop reading! I swear on my life that I will try and make them fit into the group as best as I can. And for those of you who have seen the movies, yes, we all know that Chris Evans plays both Johnny Storm and Steve Rogers. So, just picture someone else as Johnny, or picture him as Mr. Evans if it amuses you. Anyways, here's the next chapter :D**

**! #$%^**

"Three thousand two hundred and thirty six... three thousand two hundred and thirty seven... three thousand two hundred and thirty eight..." I counted out loud.

I was currently sitting in a chair, my legs curled up underneath me and strands of my hair wrapped around my finger. I was counting out loud partly because I was dying of boredom, but also because I knew that it would annoy Loki. I kept glancing up at him as I counted higher, trying to see if he was pissed off yet.

"Three thousand two hundred and thirty nine..."

He just stood a few feet away from me, staring silently at the opposite wall.

"Three thousand two hundred and forty..."

And still he stared at the wall. I had been counting for the last hour and a half, and he still hadn't made any move to stop me, or even acknowledged the fact that I was being a little brat. But what could I say? He had kidnapped me from my family, and then expected me to sit here for God knows how long, doing absolutely nothing! If I was going to be stuck here for the next couple of days, I might as well get some entertainment out of it, right?

"Three thousand two hundred and forty one..." I started once again, but since he didn't even spare me a glance, I knew that I had to try something else. Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth and started singing.

"I know a song that get's on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, yes on everybody's nerves," I began, singing in my most horrid voice possible. "I know a song that get's on everybody's nerves, and this is how it goes!"

Loki turned to me, raising a single black eyebrow. I smirked, and sang even louder.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, yes on everybody's nerves! I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes!"

With another glance at Loki, I could tell that it was working. He was glaring at me with those beautiful eyes of his, and it nearly made me start laughing. I simply settled for another smirk, and kept on singing.

"I know a song that gets-"

Without warning, the chair that I was sitting on shot out from under me, and I fell to the floor with a thump. I was confused, my frown making Loki chuckle. My eyes widened in realization, and I then glared accusingly at him. Loki smirked, and held up his hands.

"What would you have done in my position? That was the most horrid song my ears have ever had the misfortune to hear," He said with a slight grimace.

I continued glaring at him as I stood, and swiped some of the dirt off of my jeans from where I had fallen. Loki just raised an eyebrow at me, to which I stuck my tongue out at him. Yeah, yeah. Childish, but did I ever claim to be otherwise? Dear God, I was one of the most immature people that I knew... but you know what? I was okay with it!

"I know that it was annoying, that's the reason why I started singing it in the first place... But you're still a mean person for doing that. And I suppose for trying to take over the world. And kidnapping me. And-"

"Yes, I do believe that I got the point," Loki drawled, staring at me with an expression that made my heart melt.

Wait.

I couldn't be thinking those types of things anymore... I mean, I was in the process of getting over Loki before he magically appeared on the Helicarrier and kidnapped me from my friends and family.

And you know what? I was actually able to be _happy_ without him. I had gone out for drinks with Natasha, had successfully completed a difficult mission, and was able to joke around with my fellow teammates, all _without_ Loki. I had known that I was never going to see Loki again, and I was starting to accept that.

And then this _bastard_ over here decides that he wants to break out of prison and come to Earth to get revenge, not to mention steal me away in the process.

Maybe I really was better off without him, because every time he showed up, my life went to hell. I mean, seriously? Why couldn't I fall for a normal guy who _wasn't_ trying to enslave the human race, and _didn't_ want all of my friends dead? Maybe I should go on one of those dating sites or something, anything to get my mind away from Loki.

But then he had to go and be so damn cute and melt my heart with every word that he spoke. I was close to getting over him before, but would I be able to now that he had shown up again? Would I want to? Would my team even be able to find me?

I sighed, my head about to explode from all of the stray thoughts running through my head.

"What are you thinking, Samantha?" Loki asked, concern written on his face.

And there he goes again.

My heart = melted.

I groaned, and covered my face with both of my hands, purposely not looking up at the man standing in front of me. Why did he have to _be_ like that? I uncovered my face, looking up at him with a question in my eyes.

"Why are you so _sweet_ to me?" I asked, desperately needing an answer.

Loki tilted his head at me, and raised an eyebrow.

"And why should I not be?" He shot back at me.

I scoffed.

"I don't know... because we're on opposite sides of the war, because I'm your prisoner, because... well because there are tons of reasons why you shouldn't be this nice to me. I mean, I know that you have feelings for me, but-"

Loki cut me off.

"You say that as if you do not share those feelings. Have you lost all affection for me? Or does your heart still feel something of what it once did?" He asked, successfully making me frustrated.

Did I still have any feelings for him?

Well, I mean, he-

_No_. I was going to be completely honest with myself.

I, Samantha Anne Barton, still had feelings for the God of Mischief.

Frowning to myself, I realized that it was true. More than true. But damn it, I didn't want it to be true! I mean, this was the man that almost got me killed a few months ago! The man who had caused massive destruction to New York city with his stupid army.

"Fuck you..." I muttered, before crossing my arms with a huff. Loki seemed to look satisfied with my words, obviously knowing why I had cursed at him.

I sighed, and sat down on the floor, wondering how my life got here. Once upon a time I was a normal little girl with an older brother and a loving mother and father. Then the car crash happened, and we ended up in an orphanage. The S.H.I.E.L.D. got its slimy little hands on us, and my life changed forever.

Then Loki showed up, and everything changed once again. Why couldn't I have some stability to my life? Part of it comes with being an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but the other part came from simple bad luck. Which I apparently had a lot of, because quite honestly, my life sucked.

Well, maybe it didn't suck too bad. I suppose it really only sucked when Loki randomly popped up. I rolled my eyes, and tried to think, to see just what it was about him that attracted me. I mean, of course he was a very handsome person, but it went beyond that. Whenever he smiled, I couldn't help but to feel like I needed to smile as well, and whenever I was around him, I felt _complete_ somehow. Like it was meant to be.

Which was beyond stupid, but then again, I never claimed to be smart. In fact, I had to be exactly the opposite if I was dumb enough to fall for Loki.

I sighed, and hid my face in my knees.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

**! #$%^**

**Meanwhile, On The Helicarrier...**

**! #$%^**

"The _Fantastic Four_?" Clint was the one to speak, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Fury clasped his hands behind his back, and nodded briskly at the six Avengers in front of him.

"We have contacted Dr. Reed Richards and informed him of our situation, and he has agreed to bring his team down to help locate Agent Barton and Loki," He spoke as he paced.

He looked over at Maria, who was still swiping away at her computer screen.

"What is Dr. Richard's ETA?" He asked.

"Thirty minutes out from headquarters, sir."

Fury turned back to the group, his eyebrows raised slightly.

"Think you can go that long without tearing the base apart?" He drawled, staring expectantly at the group of heroes.

They were silent, still shocked, and Fury took that as a confirmation, nodding to himself as he walked out of the room.

Clint blinked, still stunned about the turn of events. He'd take any help he could get if it got Samantha back, but the _Fantastic Four_?

This would be interesting.

**! #$%^**

**Sammie's POV**

**! #$%^**

There were no clocks on the walls inside of the warehouse, but I knew that at least two hours had passed since I had last spoken to Loki. And so I sat silently, staring at the wall in front of me.

There were so many things to think about, and yet, I didn't want to think about any of them. I wanted to close my eyes and just pretend that nothing had happened. My life was too complicated for intense pondering.

Maybe I'd take a nap.

I yawned at the thought, and ran a hand through my brown hair. I stretched out my arms, before lying down on the concrete floor beneath me. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable place in the world, but as there weren't any other options, this would have to do.

My eyes slowly shut, and I drifted off to sleep.

My dreams usually didn't make any sense to me; they were mostly colors and sounds, faces of those that I loved, and emotions that were often hidden until that point in time. Of course, I had nightmares like normal people did, perhaps more so after the Battle of New York, but nothing that ever made sense to me.

And so, I was dreaming about Clint and Loki when a sudden noise startled me awake. I shot off of the floor, my hand automatically taking my gun out of its holster and pointing it towards whatever had caused the noise.

As my eyes focused, I saw that there was a huge hole in the side of the warehouse wall, and the blinding light that streamed through made it almost impossible to see what was just outside. And then, of course, it was quite easy to see what it was when it flew into building in a flash of red and gold.

I lowered my gun, and groaned.

"Damn it Tony, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" I complained, but he was silent, his sight trained on something else.

_Loki_.

Oh, right, forgot about him for a second there.

Tony had his gauntlets trained on Loki, who automatically switched to his battle armor in that weird magical way of his. Well, apparently Loki didn't need his staff to use magic, because the next thing I knew, he shot some beam of glowing green light at Tony, which he barely dodged.

Tony shot back at Loki, but the blow was easily deflected by magic. I glanced back and forth between the two of them as the routine continued, not quite knowing what to do. So of course, when I don't know what to do, I just stand there awkwardly.

"Umm, can you guys _stop_? Or... _something_?" I pleaded with them. But knowing their history, knowing that they both hated each other with a passion, I knew it was useless.

And I was right, as the two of them continued to shoot at each other and tear up the whole warehouse. I was just about ready to tear my hair out from frustration when I heard the familiar sound of a quinjet just outside, confirming my suspicions that I was being rescued.

I headed towards the hole in the wall as fast as I could without accidentally being blown up by Tony or Loki (who were still going at each other), but the warehouse was rather large, and I was still way across the building from the opening. Several figures appeared in the makeshift doorway right then, and I recognized one of them immediately.

"Clint!" I shouted, wondering if he would be able to hear me through all the noise that the fighting was making. But he heard, and his whole body relaxed as soon as he saw me, showing how worried he had been.

It was then that I noticed the other people in the doorway, and there were only three people that I recognized: Natasha, Steve, and Thor. There were four others in the doorway though, four people who I had never met before, but knew very well who they were.

"Oh my God,"

I froze, my eyes wide at the sight of the Fantastic Four. _The_ Fantastic Four. One of the most famous superhero teams in the whole _world_, was currently standing in the doorway of the warehouse to rescue me. Well, to take down Loki as well, but still, to _rescue_ me! I guess that I was part of an equally famous superhero team, but they were the _Fantastic Four_!

My blue eyes took in the four figures: Mr. Fantastic; The Invisible Woman; The Human Torch; and the Thing, who were talking quietly to each other and probably figuring out what the heck to do with Tony and Loki brawling like they were.

I quickly shook myself out of my fangirl-ish moment, and turned back to the battle. I frowned, and put my hands on my hips, not knowing what to do. The others were obviously having the same dilemma, because Tony and Loki were leaving no openings for another to join in the fight.

So I just sighed, and started walking toward Tony and Loki. I knew that they both cared about me more than they hated each other, so I was in no danger. I kept walking until I found my opening, and sprinted right in front of Loki, successfully stopping Tony from sending off another attack.

Loki paused, and stared at me with one of those dang _looks_ of his, before glancing back up at Tony, who had lowered his gauntlets.

"Sammie, what the hell are you doing?" Tony's voice came through his suit.

I simply shrugged, but before I could say anything, a flash of red and silver whistled by me, and knocked Loki to the floor. I raised my eyebrows, and looked down to see Thor pinning Loki to the ground. I quickly took a few steps back, standing beside Tony.

The others took the opening, and soon enough they were by our side as well. I beamed and turned to Clint, throwing my arms around him. He held me close to him, and let out a deep breath.

"Thanks, Birdy," I joked, smiling into his shoulder. He grinned, and nodded.

"Anytime, Sammie."

I let go of him and turned toward Loki. He was still pinned under Thor, but I just looked at him with a smile.

"I'm seriously trying hard to suppress the urge to say 'I told you so'. Because, really? I _did_ tell you that they'd find this place," I said.

Loki didn't say anything, but alternated between glaring at Thor and staring at me. Finally, he settled on simply closing his eyes, and staying completely still.

Now it was my turn to frown, as I didn't know what the heck he was going to do. He was going to do something, that much I knew. I mean, since when was he just going to _stop_?

And (of course) I was right, as green mist began to swirl around Loki's figure, appearing out of nowhere. I frowned, knowing what this was, having experienced it before. I quickly looked to Thor, who was staring at his brother with a strange expression.

"Um, he's g-"

But I was cut off before I could finish my sentence, as Loki vanished with a dramatic gust of air that swept through the warehouse, making my brown hair fly into the corner of my eyes. I frowned, and glanced over at everyone else.

Thor and Tony looked to be a shade of red that easily matched a tomato, though they were upset for different reasons. Clint seemed annoyed, but his demeanor showed that he was just relieve to see me. Nat was acting the same as before, and Steve made his way silently to my side.

He rested a gentle hand on my shoulder, giving me one of his overly concerned looks.

"Are you alright, Samantha?" He asked.

I couldn't help but grin, and I quickly pulled him into a hug.

"You know you missed me, Steve."

When I pulled away from the Captain, he had turned a brilliant shade of red. I held in a chuckle, and swore silently to myself that I would find him someone who could desensitize his old fashioned manners.

When my inner ramblings had finally quieted down, my eyes wandered over to the four figures standing a few feet back from the rest of us, staring at the scene in front of them with varying expressions.

As my eyes took in the sight before me, I couldn't help but to let out a laugh. How had my life gotten here? I mean, it'd never been normal, but to have the Fantastic Four only a few feet away was a completely different level.

But then again, I was a member of the _Avengers_, the team that saved the world from an angry God and an army of aliens.

Whatever the case was, it was stilling pretty flipping awesome.

"Director Fury, this is Agent Romanoff. We've recovered Agent Barton, but Loki has disappeared."

I heard Natasha radio in the information to Fury, and knew that Loki's dramatic escape would only cause more problems for the rest of the team, as we'd probably be tasked with trying to find him again.

And then there was the possibility that Loki was working with someone else, and from the instant tightening in my gut, I knew that whoever it was not a person I really wanted to meet. It was quite ironic, really, that even after I was rescued, I didn't feel any more at ease than when I had been with Loki.

The was more to come, that I knew for certain. But _what_? It couldn't possibly be worse than an army of aliens, but at the same time, I didn't really feel like jinxing it. My luck was bad enough that I didn't need any more complications.

"Birdy?"

I turned toward Clint with a small smile on my lips.

"Yeah, Sammie?" He glanced over at me.

"I sure know how to pick 'em, don't I?"

He shot me a look, before shaking his head.

"Only you, Samantha. Only you."

**! #$%^**

**A/N: Again, so so **_**so**_** sorry for the wait, but I promise to be better about updating from here on out. The next chapter will have a lot more of the Fantastic Four in it, as we'll have introductions and see which characters get along with which. Any predictions? ;D**


End file.
